


Fever

by rixsig-writes (rixsig)



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Sickfic, fluff with the tiniest dash of angst? why am i like this, rei has a cameo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 01:22:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14884956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rixsig/pseuds/rixsig-writes
Summary: Shu is no stranger to overwork, but the consequences this time are a little different than what he's used to.





	Fever

**Author's Note:**

  * For [6am](https://archiveofourown.org/users/6am/gifts).



> a bday oneshot for my beloved friend sixer. happy ultra belated bday!!
> 
> also if anyone is wondering........real life circumstances are preventing me from continuing multichap fics at the moment, gomenasorry T_T

It starts with a tickle in Shu’s throat that he roundly ignores. He’s already much too behind on his sewing work and he can’t afford to get sick now. He simply cannot. So he assists Mademoiselle in her morning routine, pretends not to hear her chiding comments, and heads straight to class with Kagehira, barely the worse for wear. Surely he’ll survive one more late night. It’s for the sake of _art_ , after all.

Five hours later he’s lying in the dirt, wishing very much that the fever would either go away or at least have the grace to kill him before Kagehira—or god forbid, Kiryuu—finds him there.

“...Itsuki-kun?” Hakaze Kaoru’s pant leg comes within the corner of Shu’s sight.

Oh _worse_ , this is so much worse. Shu closes his eyes, in lieu of having a blanket to shut out the unpleasant reality of the moment.

Hakaze sits down, legs crossed, and looks furtively around before continuing to speak in a worried undertone, “So what’s my...my _boy_ friend doing skipping class, huh?”

Shu will admit to some progress being made. That was a relatively minor verbal stumble. He turns Mademoiselle from where she’s sitting carefully propped on his chest, angling her towards the direction of Hakaze’s voice, and lets her answer him. “Shu-kun pushed himself too hard and overextended himself again! Silly boy. I was hoping he was past this…”

“I understand the feeling~” Hakaze says in that breezy sort of way that means he’s especially displeased. “It would be nice if he realized how many years off my life I lose when I see him passed out on the floor~”

Shu clears his throat and passes off his warm face as a part of the fever, opening his eyes to look somewhere above Hakaze’s left ear. “I’m perfectly fine, I assure you.”

“But you’d be even better if you’d go home and get some rest, right?”

That does not sound like a suggestion, but Shu can’t help but be resistant to it anyway. “Nonsense. A hour or so of rest in the infirmary should be sufficient. I have to get these costumes done tonight.”

Hakaze darts another look around before daring to comb the sweaty fringe of Shu’s hair away from his forehead. “Can’t the rest of the Handicraft Club handle that?” He sees Shu open his mouth and plows on before he can say anything. “Come on, you keep saying Kagehira-kun’s gotten a lot better right? And you can call in Kiryuu-kun too.”

Shu pulls a displeased face.

“Shu-kun, don’t be stubborn,” Mademoiselle chides before falling completely silent again.

“If you insist…” Shu sighs, pulling out his phone and squinting at the screen. These infernal devices are such a pain. If only everyone communicated by cup like reasonable people. After a minute or two of Shu’s unproductive staring, Hakaze gives up waiting, just taking the phone and tapping out the messages himself.

 

* * *

 

Which is how Shu finds himself escorted home by a class-cutting Hakaze.

“I was under the impression you were taking school more seriously these days,” Shu grumbles without heat. He squints at the handle of his front door and fumbles out the keys. He hadn’t felt quite this dizzy before…

Hakaze deftly takes them from him and unlocks the door himself, pushing it open and ushering Shu in like a mother hen. “Don’t worry, don’t worry, I’m not missing anything important.”

Shu makes some sort of comment in response, but Hakaze either doesn’t hear or pretends not to, leading Shu over to the couch. Shu sinks into it with an involuntary sigh. This is horrendous. It’s getting difficult to concentrate, and what if Kagehira has a question or needs something? If he can’t be there in person to finish off the costumes like he was planning he should at least—

The sensation of a blissfully cool palm on his forehead cuts off all thought, and Shu leans into it mindlessly in relief. If he tilts his head just so, no like _this_ , then...ah yes, that’s much better. A choked noise draws Shu’s attention and his eyes slit open just in time to catch Hakaze red-faced and wide-eyed.

Shu has to blink a couple time to keep the image in focus, but the effort is worth it. He decides he rather likes that look on him.

“Red compliments you well,” he says in an almost dreamy voice, hand reaching up to trace that hot cheek. He watches with satisfaction as it grows a shade darker. “Exquisite.”

Hakaze’s gives an unhinged, breathless laugh. “U-uh, hey Itsuki-kun, I think you’re getting worse? Maybe you should lay dow—”

“Purples and blues as well,” Shu continues, hand trailing down Hakaze’s neck, picturing different fabrics and the way they could frame that skin. He can feel the bob of Hakaze’s throat as he swallows thickly. “Jewel tones. Like royalty.” Now that’s a thought: Hakaze draped in jewels. Shu dislikes when a costume relies too heavily on jewelry, especially to hide inadequacies in the outfit itself, but if Shu were to make one themed on decadence… “It’s a shame your unit relies on black so heavily. What I’d give to see you on stage with something that brings out the gentle honey color of your hair…”

Hakaze breathes out a wheezing exhale, like he’s been punched in the gut.

“Shhh, shhhh. Don’t waste your angel’s breath, Kaoru,” Shu chides, blinking a few times to consolidate his swimming vision so he can lay a couple fingers over that mouth.

“I-Itsuki-kun!!”

A wave of vertigo hits Shu hard and he wipes at his own forehead, perplexed. “Ah. Look at this. I’m sweating.”

Then his eyes roll up and he passes out.

 

* * *

 

When he comes to he’s laid out on his own bed, a full glass of water on the nightstand ruining the antique wood with a ring of condensation. He can hear Hakaze talking out in the hall. Kagehira? No, by the quality of light it’s too early for him to be home. The phone, then.

“No, no, really! He’s—”

“Kaoru-kun, he’s fine,” comes Rei’s voice over speakerphone, sounding enragingly amused. “He’s always had that side to him. Didn’t you ever hear him croon about ‘Nito, Nito, Nito’ in the past?”

“So. It’s not just…?”

“No, the fever isn’t frying his brain enough to change his personality. I’m sure someday soon the floodgates will open and he’ll be like this quite often. Perhaps I should shake out a few old stories—”

Shu scrambles to locate his cup, and when he fails to find it he grabs the water glass and dumps it out onto the floor, putting it up to his mouth with such haste he almost bashes his teeth in by accident. “Non! Not another word, Rei!”

He can hear Hakaze’s yelp in stereo, both from the hall and from the glass in his hands. He peeks his head into Shu’s room and gapes, presumably at the puddle of water by the bed.

“Yes I know, it’s hardly ideal,” Shu mutters, swaying a little in place.

Rei tsks from the other end of the line. “Oh my, butting in on a private phone call? Perhaps I shouldn’t have given you universal access after all.”

“You’re the one that kept losing your cup,” Shu snaps. He can’t find his at the moment either, but that’s besides the point.

“Hm? Are you testy because I’ve crashed your alone time? Oh to be young…”

Shu sets the glass rim-down on the nightstand with a clunk. That’s quite enough of that.

Hakaze is still staring at him from the doorway. Shu flushes and tries to get up, failing halfway and almost tumbling out of bed, foot slipping a little in the water. “Forget all of that immediately. Don’t pay me any mind. I just need to clean this up and then—”

“Itsuki-kun,” Hakaze says with exasperation, rushing forward and tucking Shu back in bed faster than Shu can process. “Stay still, alright~? You’re going to make me worry even more.” And then he’s out the door before Shu can protest, coming back in with a bath towel to mop up the mess, a new glass of water in hand.

Shu only grumbles a little bit taking the fever meds Hakaze gives him and when he lies back down something cool rests on his forehead. A compress. When he looks up at Hakaze, sees the streams of golden light from the window limning his face, he can feel the adoration climbing up his throat and trying to escape. He bites his tongue on it. It’s too much.

Then Hakaze climbs into the bed with him and Shu squawks in surprise, heart pounding in doubletime when Hakaze cuddles up to him and puts his head on Shu’s chest.

“Y-You’re being ridiculous,” Shu protests, hand already carding through Hakaze’s hair.

“I could never be as ridiculous as you, honey bun,” Hakaze says dryly. _Honey bun_. Disgusting. He nuzzles into Shu’s shirt even though it must be horribly damp and then after a long moment speaks again. “...hey. Did you love him?”

Shu doesn’t have to ask who he means, although he very much wishes he could feign ignorance right about now. He sighs, head tipping back further until he can stare at the ceiling. “I jumped out of a window the first time I saw him,” he recalls fondly. “He was perfect. Heaven in the shape of a fellow classmate. I couldn’t possibly bother with something like stairs. What if he vanished the moment I took my eyes off of him?”

The words suddenly stick in Shu’s throat like gravel, and his hand twitches for Mademoiselle. Where? Where is she? Shu starts to lift up on his elbow, but Hakaze just scoots further on top of him, making him plop back down. Shu swallows heavily.

“It’s okay. She’s downstairs, in her little chair on the kitchen table.”

Shu releases a quiet breath. She speaks less and less these days anyway. Resting, after so long looking after him. He knows she wants him to learn to speak for himself again. But oh, this is wretched business, talking about the past. Talking about his feelings, his fears. One hand fists in the sheets, claw-like, while the other bunches in Hakaze’s shirt.

“I spent so many years training my hands for the most delicate work,” Shu murmurs finally, “but I still manage to ruin what’s most precious to me.”

“Nazuna-kun? He doesn’t look ruined to me.”

“Of course he doesn’t. He left.” Shu understands now that he needed to. And in time Shu will need to leave Kagehira as well, for his sake. Slowly have him stand on his own so Shu can bequeath to him Valkyrie's legacy.

“So,” Hakaze continues, “what? Do you think you’re going to ruin me?”

Shu’s silence is condemning.

Hakaze _laughs_ , and Shu glares down at him, affronted. “I fail to see what’s so funny.”

“Maybe I’ll ruin you first? I’m a bad influence, you know.” He winks.

Shu snorts, the beginnings of a traitorous smile playing at the corner of his mouth. “Fool. You can’t pull the wool over my eyes. I’m good friends with both Rei and Kanata. I’m aware of your true nature.”

“All the mystery...gone already…Is this what dating is really like...?”

“You’ve dated plenty of people before,” Shu accuses, tugging a lock of Hakaze’s hair in reprimand.

Hakaze somehow manages to give an embarrassed shrug from on top of him. “Haha, um. Not like this.” Hakaze peeks upward with a roguish tilt to his mouth. “But if you’ve got all of that romance in you then I think I could really get used to doing it this way, Shu~♥”

Shu goes a rather mortifying red, but it’s gratifying at least to see that Hakaze’s blushing the same shade.

“The instant I get well I’m going to kiss you,” Shu tells him matter-of-factly.

“Hm?” A good portion of Hakaze’s flirty self-assuredness has already been destroyed, but he lifts himself up on his arms and leans in anyway. “Then _I’ll_ kiss _you_ now.”

Shu’s ensuing yelp of protest gets completely lost in Hakaze’s mouth.


End file.
